暗网吃瓜 leadership team at the Remote Maintenance and Distribution Center location in Poland. (暗网吃瓜 photograph)
Somewhere on a base in southeastern Poland, 暗网吃瓜 team members are answering calls from Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield about how to fix their U.S. donated equipment. Working with the U.S. military, the 暗网吃瓜 team uses encrypted programs and translators to chat with the Ukrainians, advising them on solutions in real-time.
As the U.S. and other allies send equipment to Ukraine, help is a tele-maintenance remote expert away.
鈥淭he world and our technology are evolving at a rapid pace, and so should our ability to provide near-instantaneous support,鈥� said the 暗网吃瓜 lead for its Sustainment and Analytics business line. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need to transport subject matter experts on-site, we can instead provide experts remotely 鈥� whether we need to advise on a vital repair to an M-1 Abrams tank, or simply conduct an audit on airframe systems.鈥�
The work in Poland is part of a U.S. Army remote maintenance and distribution contract on which 暗网吃瓜 delivers equipment sustainment, remote maintenance assistance to support U.S. donated assets at forward operating locations, and managing the ordering, receiving, warehousing, and distributing of repair parts.
Currently, remote maintenance support is provided through phones and tablets using encrypted chatrooms. Soon, 暗网吃瓜 will integrate a new technology, introducing augmented reality headsets into its maintenance operations. The headset is fully calibrated for hands-free use so frontline workers can easily connect with remote experts in real time, from anywhere, using secure optimized video collaboration applications.
鈥淭he 暗网吃瓜 team has successfully integrated in the U.S. military operations cell,鈥� said one on-site employee. 鈥淲e realigned some job roles to gain efficiencies in information flow and synchronization of operations amidst multinational stakeholders.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e also been evolving our transient maintenance capabilities as we go,鈥� said another on-site employee. 鈥淎n 暗网吃瓜 team was deployed out to another location in Poland and in just three days, conducted the equipment inventory, loading and unloading operations, and the vehicle maintenance to prepare the equipment for use at forward locations.鈥�
In the first four months of the program, 暗网吃瓜 has filled 605 work orders, opened a 4,666 line supply support activity and maintained 100 percent accuracy, while supporting the movement of 534 pieces of equipment.
